Improvement in car-couplings



LcunnAN.

Car-Couplings.

No.l54,650. Patented sept.1,1s74.

FIG l FIG IV wn-Nl-:ssas

INVEN TOR UNITED STATES.-

PATENT OFFICE,s

JAMES GURRAN, OF BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK.

|MPRov'EMENT IN cARcoUPL|NGs.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 154,650, datedSeptember 1, 1874 application filed I l June 18, 1874.

To all whom it may concer/n:

Be it known that I, J AMES GURRAN, of Binghamton, in the county ofBroome and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Railway-Car Couplings; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description` thereof, which willenable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make andV usethe same, reference bein g had to the accompanying drawings and to theletters of reference .marked thereon,which form a part of thisspecification.

lMy improvement relates to that class of couplings for railway-ears inwhich the coupling-pin is carried by an arm operated by a rock-shaft;and the special features of my invention consist of the combination of aslotted shoe with the drawhe'ad and a stirrup secured betweeniianges,'whereby the shoe is firmlysecured in place, and the draw-headrock-shaft allowed to have free movement by the slots of said shoe also,in the combination of the op erating rock-shaft with diagonal braces,and open bearings for the ends of said shaft, whereby it is braced andheld in position with the draw-head.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical section ofa car-coupling device embracing my invention 5 Fig. 2, a side View ofthe same; Fig. 3, a bottom view; Fig. 4, a side view of the slottedshoe; Fig. 5, a seetion showing the link coupled and the coupling-pinlever down in the socket of the draw,-

`head; Fig.` 6, a cross-section ofthe draw-head and its. shoe; and Fig.7, a top View of the draw-head. Y

` The draw-head a is cast in two parts, with a narrow throat, b, to holdthe link horizontal, and an inclined mouth. It is secured within an ironshoe, c, so that it can be forced back vagainst a rubber cushion, d,when the cars come together, to relieve the concussion. This shoe c issecured to the underside of the platform,and braced by a stirrup,@,iitted between ilanges f on the sides and bottom of the shoe c, and itis by these shoes the cars are drawn, as the draw-heads are locked'therewith by means of a rock-shaft, g, passing crosswise through therear part of the draw-head, and through slots h in the sides of theshoe, and against the front ends of these slots h the rockshaft gisdrawn with the draw-head, and thus the rock-shaft and the shoe serve tohold the draw-head in place. Any other additional means for securing`these parts may be employed, if found necessary. As the pull of thecars is directly upon the shoes it is necessary that their connectionwith the car should be very-iirm, and for this purpose I connect theinner ends. of the two draw-head shoes by means of bars t' secured tothe shoes, and bolted to the under side of the cars, thereby bracing thetwo shoes as 011e, and increasing the security of the fastening. The topof the draw-head has a slot, j, within which an arm, k, moves up anddown upon its rock-shaft g, by turning the latter in its bearings in thedraw-head; and the front end of this arm carries the coupling` pin l,which, as the arm descends, passes down through the link m, and makesthe coupling.

The slot j in the draw-head allows the lever to descend iiush with itstop, and the front end of the slot j terminates in a raised socket, a,within which the pin end of the arm la moves, and is confined when thecoupling is made, thereby shielding the arm from accidentaldisplacement, and forming a guide to hold the pin in position always todescend in the openings in the drawhcad. The pin is pivoted to the arm,and held, to allow it to descend in a line with its receiving opening,but when raised it will be held in an inclined position, as shown inFig. 1.

rIhe pin-arm being secured to work in a slot on the top of the drawhead,puts it out of the way, and makes it more iirm and steady in itsmovement with its acting end held between the walls of the socket, whichthus act as guards both to the arm` and its pin, and give the advantageof a short movement to the pin,

as the arm which carries it is pivoted nearly centrally in thedraw-head, so that the range of movement in coupling and uncoupling thepin is comparatively small, and makes a very sure coupling, the arm andits pin entering the draw-head together.

The rock-shaft g passes through the drawhead and its shoe, and is fittedinto open bearings p, on the under side of the platform, to render itsteady; and a hand-wheel, q, is secured on eachend of the shaft, bywhich to operate the coupling; and a lever, r, may be connected to oneof these hand-wheels, whereby the couplin g may be operated from the topof the car. To keep the rock-shaft in line, and brace it to thedraw-head, two braces, s s, eX- tend from each side of the draw-head toboxes t on the rock-shaft, so that the latter can be turned and moved inand out, and carry the bracing-arms s and boxes t with it.

It is, of course, understood that each end of the car is provided withthe same coupling apparatus, and with the flaring mouth, and thecoupling-pin passing down through the narrow throat, cars of dierentheights can be' coupled, and upon short curves.

It will be observed that the arm k, in being coupled, is brought downupon a bed, u, in the draw-head, and that the upper opening, fw, throughwhich the coupling-pin moves, is made in this bed, and that the narrowthroat b for the link is made beneath this bed, whereby the link-seat band the arm-seat u are separated, and secured in different recesseswithin the plane of the draw-head.

When the arm k is raised the pin is held up for the entrance of the linkby means of a spring, shaft.

l. The combination, with the draw-head, of the shoe c, the stirrup@,flan ges f, and the connecting and bracing bars i, whereby the shoesare firmly braced to the car and to each other, as set forth.

2. The slots h in the sides of the shoe c, in combination with therock-shaft q and the draw-head a, whereby the rock-shaft and drawz,arranged to bear kupon the rockhead are allowed to have a certainmovement,l

and the rock-shaft made to draw against the ends of the slots, as setforth.

3. The combination of the rock-shaft q with the braces s s and the openbearings p p, whereb5T the shaft is braced and held in position with thedraw-head, as set forth.

In testimon7 that I claim the foregoing I have aixed my signature inpresence of two witnesses.

JAMES C'URRAN. Witnesses:

A. E. H. JoHNsoN, J. W. HAMILTON J oHNsoN.

